Something happened to me many years ago in "daylight". I was walking to the shop with my friends (less than 800 meters), we were teenagers back then. We saw this man run past us, then he came back again in front of us, a fair way ahead at the front of a unit block behind the mailboxes at the front.
His running around and demeanour seemed odd to me. I pointed it out to my friends, as we walked closer, he appeared to be doing something. He'd pulled down his shorts and underpants and walked right passed us having a good old time with himself. You'd never have seen girls run so fast. When we got to the shop, we were scared about getting home, not to mention whether we should tell our parents for fear of them not letting us out anymore. We were scared that he would follow us and find out where we lived etc. Later we walked home a different way. In the end we did tell out parents, as it turned out we weren't the only ones he had exposed himself to, because it was reported in the local paper.
If you are unable to avoid walking home late at night by yourself, I'd recommend some self defence lessons. Also take different routes or occasionally someone to accompany you.